Kompany Malakhi (pronounced Malak-eye) is one of the most innovative, progressive and exciting dance theatre companies in the UK today. Kompany Malakhi bridges the gap between the artistic and commercial worlds, producing high quality performances that are informed by, and for today’s sophisticated audiences, who are in search of something new, exciting and relevant.
Established in 1994 by its Artistic Director Kwesi Johnson, Kompany Malakhi was created because of Johnson’s desire to combine the theatre forms and dance styles that have been influential in his career to date.
Kwesi Johnson is inspired by a wealth of cultural, musical and artistic forms that reflect the UK's diverse society. This fuels the passion at the heart of the company which is to bring *vernacular culture to the theatre, and theatre to urban environments. The work draws on dance/movement styles such as Physical Theatre, Funkstyles, Hip Hop Culture as well as Contemporary Dance, Urban British Jazz Dance and Capoeira. These styles are effortlessly synthesised with spoken word and film to create a totally unique performance style.
The company is committed to attracting new audiences by extending its work beyond formal theatre spaces, cross-fertilising commercial and theatrical worlds, and developing a stronger inclusive relationship between audiences and performers.
The word Malakhi can be interpreted as ‘messenger’. This represents Johnson’s passion for creating and presenting imaginative narratives in performance that often hold a message, meaning and substance.
Through Johnson’s direction the company creates forward thinking work that is of high quality. For example Johnson creates work that is heavily influenced by Hip Hop Culture and presents it in an abstract, but accessible form. He also creates commercial style performances suitable for music video or film. He also presents work using Physical Theatre with poetry or at site specific locations. His vision is focused and his ideas are vast.
*Vernacular The everyday language of the people in a particular country or region, as opposed to official or formal language.
What the Papers Say about Kompany Malakhi
“Kwesi Johnson’s Kompany Malakhi brings the most innovative and interactive
theatre that London has seen in eons to the stage……. truly compelling”
The New Nation
“Definitely worth seeing….Kompany Malakhi is set to be a dance force to be
reckoned with….”
Newcastle Journal “A must for contemporary fans and novices alike”
Metro North East
"Johnson's body became jazz music"
The New Nation
“Challenges perceptions of culture and gender, blurring the lines between dance and theatre”
The Voice “Hunt them Down” - "Cheeky emphatic and totally off the wall"
Dance Europe
BIOGRAPHY OF KWESI JOHNSON– Artistic Director
Kwesi's first experiences of dance were through B Boyin and Funkstyles, and then Urban British Jazz Dance or Be Bop as it is sometimes called. He then went on to train professionally at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD ), where he graduated in 1991. During his time at NSCD he trained in ballet, contemporary dance (Graham technique) and choreography. He also trained independently in capoeira, urban dance forms and has experience in Afrikan and Caribbean dance.
He had three main goals before he graduated, and they were to work with, in no order of priority, Lloyd Newson, Black Mime Theatre and Phoenix Dance Theatre. Each of these companies had a very strong and distinct identity and style. By 1994 he had achieved all three goals, which is a testament to his versatility and focus. His training and professional experience to this point, had given him a huge resource of movement and styles to draw on. Kwesi was eager to express this, so in 1994 he created Kompany Malakhi, after receiving his first commission for a solo piece called, Searching for a Shaman. This was when his distinct style began to take shape by synthesising vernacular and contemporary dance styles, spoken word and film. It was a perfect marriage of the styles he had been exposed to, to this point in his career. He coined the phrase ‘Griographer’ to best describe his approach to making dance and physical theatre. ‘Griot’ being an Afrikan story teller/social commentator who utilises many art forms to tell stories and pass on history,they do not seperate dance. theatre , words etc, the components make a whole, like rhythm, melody and dynamics make music, and grapher from choreographer, being someone who creates movement.
After the commission for Searching for a Shaman, Kwesi continued to absorb ideas and concepts. Whilst continuing to develop his style he performed and taught internationally, with companies such as CandoCo Dance Company, Badejo Arts, The Hittite Empire/LIFT, Irie and Companie Duroure.His choreographic credits include the opening ceremony of the 1991 Olympic Conference; Black Mime Theatre; Boston City Lights (U.S.A); Step Afrika! International Cultural Festival, South Africa; London Bubble Theatre Company; the Southwark Playhouse. For Kompany Malakhi he has created Under the Influence 2000/01, Fuzion 2001/02, the sell out tour of A Hip Hopstory in 2003, Single Reflex 2004, Body Language 2005, A Hip Hopstory 'The Remix' 2006 and Boxin in 2007.
Our Boxin lecture demonstrations have been very successful to date. It has enabled participants and organisations to really get to know Kompany Malakhi's style and ethos. Kwesi Johnson is continually progressing artistically and constantly embracing new ideas, whilst developing existing ones. This in turn enables Kompany Malakhi to grow. This means organisations whom we have worked with and those we will work with, can always rely on us being one step ahead. It's advantageous to keep visiting our web site to keep track of what we are doing, and how we deliver our activities.
The feedback we received from British Dance Edition, as with deciBel was very positive, enabling many promoters to get an updated image and understanding of Kompany Malakhi. We are firmly in a new era, and are set to achieve even greater things, that you can be part of. We would like to hear from you, if you would like to book workshops, lecture demonstrations or performances, find out more about the company, or get involved with us. Meanwhile please re-visit, familiarise and enjoy Kompany Malakhi through this site, and take the opportunity to view the trailer of Boxin below.
Photo: Kevin Clifford
“Kwesi Johnson’s Kompany Malakhi brings the most innovative and interactive theatre that London has seen in eons to the stage……. truly compelling”
Lecture Demonstration available from February 2007. Running Time 1 hour
Touring Production available from spring 2009. Running Time 70 minutes
Boxin’ literally breaks down and manoeuvres around barriers and obstacles by using Physical Theatre, Contemporary Dance, Hip Hop culture, Parkour* and Film. Steve Denton’sset design allows the set to become a sixth performer: organically constructed and de-constructed by the dancers to become integral to the choreography, not merely a backdrop to it. It creates an ever-changing modern urban landscape forming different levels, corners, slopes and hidden openings that are physical metaphors for this exploration of the mental and physical barriers that are being placed on US in the name of our safety and protection.
Boxin takes the audience by surprise, revealing unexpected physical metaphors, exploring the mental and physical barriers we encounter because of prejudice and misinformation. Boxin ultimately focuses on the positive aspects of human interaction and embraces our similarities, highlighting how, in reality, they far outweigh our differences. Boxin promotes the positivity of difference.
Choreographically, Boxin will include Kwesi Johnson’s trademark marriage of physical theatre, urban dance forms and contemporary dance to create a physical dialogue of situations and dilemmas. The movement progresses the narrative, driving it along and giving it new life.
Film will be projected onto smoke, surfaces, unusual spaces and played through TV screens. This will enable the film to interact with the performers’ emotional and physical states, taking the audience by surprise and enhancing the narrative by using the medium in an unexpected way.
AUDIENCE
Boxin’ will be the piece that punctuates a new level of inclusion, changes perspectives and highlights each venues’ comprehensive program. The company make contemporary dance in its truest sense meaning ‘of now’ by incorporating new collaborations, fresh ideas and understanding ever developing audiences. Boxin will give venues the opportunity to program and access work that revitalises established audiences and attracts new ones.
EDUCATION
Boxin’ is also accompanied by a lecture demonstration that can be performed at schools, colleges and universities; for audience development and for potential audiences to get an insight into Kompany Malakhi’s creative process. This is available from February 2008. This can also form the first day of a residency package that will run for a minimum of three days. During the residency the groups involved will create work based on the subject matter surrounding Boxin’. The residency will enable Kompany Malakhi to work closely with regional agencies and venues to deliver a personal and artistic development program for the participants involved.
Kompany Malakhi are keen to initiate the residencies during spring 2008 as ongoing research to inform the content of the main production, the company will deliver an excellent package of dance, physical theatre and team building processes for the participants and the company will also be informed by participants. The residencies will be more involved than an audience development exercise; it will be for personal development and idea generation through the arts with some of the themes making it into the final production of Boxin.
PARTNERS
Kompany Malakhi encourages working with partners who are interested in breaking down social and cultural barriers with the work it programs. Kompany Malakhi strives to work in a progressive manner, and wish to escape programming constraints through classifications of the company’s creativity based on race, sex, religion etc. The company firmly place themselves beyond restrictive categorization preferring to concentrate on delivering universal, creative and excellent work.
The subject matter of Boxin’ suggests that Kompany Malakhi aim to work with venues that have an ‘inclusive’ programming policy.
*Parkour is a physical discipline inspired by human movement, focusing on uninterrupted, efficient forward motion over, under, around and through obstacles. The goal of parkour is to adapt one's movement to any given obstacle. This will be used metaphorically as the set becomes a barrier and sometimes an aid. The recent James Bond film, Casino Royale incorporates Parkour in its opening sequencehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8OINx98pF8and other clips can be viewed here. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=515642196227308929
The Hip Hop Akademy ran at Cotham School and St. Mary Redcliffe and Temple. The sessions were exclusive to those that attend the schools. We are eager to offer this package to schools, colleges, theatres and arts centres. Would you like to bring the Akademy to you? If so please contact us for further information. See the footage of the Akademy here.
